rainn wilson

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 488 – “Weird: The Al Yankovic story (feat. Kenn Edwards)”

Evan Rachel Wood and Daniel Radcliffe in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022), directed by Eric Appel

Gobbledygeek episode 488, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Now that rock star biopics have peaked with Elvis, what else can the genre do but get Weird? Dare to be stupid with Paul, Arlo, and Alex Jonestown Massacre guitarist Kenn Edwards as they discuss Weird: The Al Yankovic story. Everyone’s favorite accordionist parodies Oscar bait bologna to tell a fact-free version of his own life story, starring obvious choice Daniel Radcliffe. The gang recounts their history with “Weird” Al, dives into the film’s loving homage to early alt-comedy, and can’t help but wonder what Madonna thinks of it all.

NEXT: I’m dreaming of a Geek Challenge featuring the holy jolly classic White Christmas and the yuletide wet dream Eyes Wide Shut.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:38  –  Intro / Guest / Theater Trauma
  • 00:15:37  –  A brief history of our heroes histories with “Weird Al”
  • 00:34:35  –  Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
  • 01:41:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

  • The Alex Jonestown Massacre on Spotify

MUSIC

  • “The Weird Al Show Theme” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, Running with Scissors (1999)
  • “Now You Know” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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On DVD & Blu-ray, 7/19/11: ‘Peep World,’ ‘Boyz n the Hood,’ More

PEEP WORLD (DVD/Blu-ray)

How come TV actors so rarely get a break on the big screen? The general consensus seems to be that we’ve moved beyond the age of the Movie Star–just look at how little anyone cared about Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts’ Larry Crowne–so why is it still so hard for TV actors to make great movies? Take a look at Peep World. You’ve got Michael C. Hall, who’s given stunning performances on Six Feet Under and Dexter; this man should be working with A-list directors, but instead he makes stuff like Gamer. You’ve got the trifecta of Rainn Wilson, Judy Greer, and Sarah Silverman, all of whom have done very funny work on television. The closest any of them get to cinematic greatness is Wilson’s bit part in Juno. TV’s time-consuming, I know. But when you look at a mess like Peep World, you wonder how so many talented TV people got thrown into such a bad movie. In a way, it reminds me of The Great New Wonderful, an awful movie that inexplicably starred Edie Falco, Will Arnett, Jim Gaffigan, Tony Shalhoub, and Stephen Colbert. Peep World isn’t nearly as bad, but its story of an oh so dysfunctional family feels like an unpleasant tenth-generation copy of The Royal Tenenbaums. It has no style, little wit, and the narrative is all a-shambles. With this many talented actors involved, there are bound to be some effective moments, and there are. But if a filmmaker with respect for and knowledge of the medium had been given the same budget and the same cast, something special could have happened. Extras include deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer. 

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‘Super’ Review: A Schizophrenic Film About a Psychopath

Super, written and directed by the cult-equipped James Gunn, reminds me of two recent movies. The first, and most obvious, is Kick-Ass. Like that film, and the comic book upon which it was based, Super takes the last decade of our nation’s obsession with anything and everything involving people in brightly colored underpants fighting crime to its logical conclusion: a real, non-superpowered individual puts on brightly colored underpants and fights crime. Also like Kick-Ass, the movie is shockingly violent in the way it dissects our fascination with superheroes. Which brings me to Hobo with a Shotgun, the other film Super reminds me of. Hobo with a Shotgun is a grim, joyless piece of work masquerading as nerd comedy, in which a vigilante mercilessly exterminates scores of criminals who rape, rob, and murder scores of innocents. Super sort of falls into the weird, misshapen chasm between the two.

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